I understand why immutable systems make sense but the benefits they bring are overrated.
How often will you mess up your system so bad you won't be able to recover it?
I ran some sort of Arch for around 15 years and the times I needed to recover my system are few and far in between.
I ran nixos for a few years but I stopped when I started experimenting with AI. Dependencies were too out of date and running random small projects is riddled with extra pain, compared to other systems.
I also had problems during upgrades, caused by incompatible features and configurations. Instead of relying on the project documentation I had to rely on nix documentation. I have massive respect for nix maintainers (and I have even contributed) but maintaining any software for everyone is a monumental task. Distros maintainer have it hard enough.
Arch with AUR ended up being a simpler experience.
For me NixOS is not about recovery. It's about reproducibility and purity, where you can try any available software in the nix-shell and remove it easily without garbage left behind. This is a real superpower. Windows and MacOS will never be able to achieve it.
I ran nixos for a few years but I stopped when I started experimenting with AI. Dependencies were too out of date and running random small projects is riddled with extra pain, compared to other systems.
I also had problems during upgrades, caused by incompatible features and configurations. Instead of relying on the project documentation I had to rely on nix documentation. I have massive respect for nix maintainers (and I have even contributed) but maintaining any software for everyone is a monumental task. Distros maintainer have it hard enough.
Arch with AUR ended up being a simpler experience.